Skiddy Urban: The Adventure Continues

For those of you who have been following Skiddy Urban's adventure, this is part three in the series of his search for a forever home. (For those of you not in the know, you can catch up here: Part 1 and Part 2)

Urban has been quite the traveler of late. He's made quite a journey since his last race in May of 2008. Before leaving the tracks in Wheeling, WV, Urban suffered an injury to his nose:

He then left for Auburn university at a veterinary school, and eventually made his way to Jefferson County Kennel Club, where Richmond GPA receives most of their rescues. He came up with a recent haul and quickly caught the hearts of numerous volunteers in the Richmond area.

Here's a quick look at his 1,850 mile journey to his potential forever home:

Due to his appearance there was some initial concern on where the best place for him would be, so I contacted one of my relatives who was not concern with cosmetics, and we had a potential place for Urban to go.

As luck would have it, while getting his dental and rabies shots, the vet suggested suturing his nose up. There was some concern that he could potential develop an infection over time as food and dirt accumulate inside the opening in his nose. The results were night and day, giving him a fresh new GQ look:

After his quick trip to the vet, he left Trina and Jason's house and stayed with us for a week. He's a very sweet boy with great manners and is a joy to be around. He's definitely a couch cuddler! He's also a bit shy of men, but with a little coaxing he quickly warmed up to me.

I took him up to Maryland where my relative lives to see how well Urban would do with her three cats. Initially he was deemed cat safe, but it was apparent that he was really cat interested and would need a bit of training to avoid the desire to chase. It was more curiosity than anything.

After seeing his reaction, it was decided he should go to Cat Bootcamp training over at Smokey's house. After a week learning how strange cats really are (and how bad they smell compared to dogs!) Urban was given the seal of approval!

During the week at my house, and the week hanging out with Smokey, Urban's sutures started to separate a bit on his nose. The vet suggested we bring him back in to have it stitched up some more to ensure that it heals 100%. If you look carefully in the next picture you can see through a small hole in his nose to the background of the bed behind him:

Marching fresh with his Kitty Bootcamp medallion, I picked him up from Smokey's on Thursday night to prepare for his Friday adoption. His new home will be in Southern Maryland, with a great lake to walk around every day.

He will be truly missed by several homes in the Richmond area. We all wish him the best, and hope he is happy with his three new cat brothers and sisters.

Urban is now going by the name of Andrew, and initial reports from his new home indicate he is settling in nicely! I'll be sure to keep a tab on him for regular updates!